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Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa called upon Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani during a visit to the Gulf country, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said on Tuesday.

Prominent among the discussions held between the two included matters related to achieving a negotiated end to the 17-year Afghanistan conflict, with the emir appreciating "Pakistan’s efforts and the positive role being played by [it] for regional stability including [in] Afghanistan", according to the military's media wing.

The army chief thanked Al-Thani for "Qatar’s continued support towards a negotiated political settlement for peace in Afghanistan", the statement added. The duo also discussed measures to enhance bilateral security cooperation.

The Qatari premier expressed the desire to diversify and broaden cooperation between the countries, including in the realm of security. The army chief "assured him of Pakistan’s full cooperation in all mutual undertakings", the press release said.

During his visit, Gen Bajwa also attended a parade in connection with the National Day of Qatar.

Taliban-US talks

The army chief's visit to Qatar comes a day after United States diplomats and Afghan Taliban representatives met in the United Arab Emirates for the first round of talks facilitated by Pakistan on finding a negotiated settlement of the war in Afghanistan.

The meeting in Abu Dhabi was also attended by officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

It was the third meeting between the Taliban and US officials since the appointment of Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad as US special envoy for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Their meeting last month had continued for three days.

However, it was the first meeting sponsored by Islamabad and also the first outside Qatar's capital Doha, which hosts Taliban’s political office and was the venue of the earlier two rounds. It is believed that the latest meeting was convened outside Qatar to underscore Pakistan’s role in arranging it and at the same time allowing participation of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, both of whom had last year cut diplomatic ties with Doha.

Ambassador Khalilzad led the US side, whereas Taliban were represented at the talks by their ‘political negotiators’ from Qatar office.

The Afghan government was not represented at Monday’s meeting because Taliban have stood firmly on not talking to the Afghan government, whom they call the puppet regime, and insisted on talking directly to the US.

Kabul, despite not getting a seat at the talks, is seeing the process positively. The Washington Post quoted Shah Hussain Murtazawi, a spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, as having said that the US-Taliban meeting was being coordinated with the Afghan government. “The Afghan government supports any effort and action that paves the way for an Afghan-led peace process,” he said.

Comments (12) Closed

FM Qureshi will be thinking what is his job as COAS, CJ meeting foreign leaders and he sitting at home.

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Gordon D. Walker

Dec 19, 2018 12:52am

Kudos to Pakistan and Qatar for positive steps that may lead to peace in Afghanistan.

Gordon D. Walker

Canada

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Magnanimous approach

Dec 19, 2018 01:06am

Pakistan has good relations with all GCC countries, as well as cordial relations with Iran & Turkey. But still there’s need to be more strong for the sake of Pak Exports of Rice, and Textiles. Pak must export max commodities to balance its oil purchases with ME countries.

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WayToGo

Dec 19, 2018 02:39am

Tomuch to guess about...

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MAkram

Dec 19, 2018 02:55am

Pakistan is wining .Good job Imran Khan.

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Jeved Kuwait

Dec 19, 2018 03:23am

But there are not many Houbara bustard left for hunting and no more Qatari letter required by NS.

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Ravi chauhan

Dec 19, 2018 08:12am

Finally , US pressure on IMF bailout package bearing results. US has linked bailout to cooperation on afganistan . Pakistan has started delivering under pressure from America. You will see lot of appreciation for pakistan from all quarters.

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SAD

Dec 19, 2018 09:47am

Thank Qatar for recognizing and appreciating Pakistan's role in the Afghan peace process.

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Saad khan

Dec 19, 2018 10:24am

Qatari Emir meeting with the real prime minister of Pakistan

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Jjacky

Dec 19, 2018 02:57pm

@Ash2000, during nawaz sharif's govt u were complaining tgat country is not having permanent Foreign Minister. But now when u have permanent Foregin Minister, than what is coas is doing here.